diff --git a/app/MindWork AI Studio/Settings/DataModel/DataSourceERI_V1.cs b/app/MindWork AI Studio/Settings/DataModel/DataSourceERI_V1.cs
index c755be8d..305c1f09 100644
--- a/app/MindWork AI Studio/Settings/DataModel/DataSourceERI_V1.cs	
+++ b/app/MindWork AI Studio/Settings/DataModel/DataSourceERI_V1.cs	
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public readonly record struct DataSourceERI_V1 : IERIDataSource
     public ERIVersion Version { get; init; } = ERIVersion.V1;
     
     /// <inheritdoc />
-    public string SelectedRetrievalId { get; init; }
+    public string SelectedRetrievalId { get; init; } = string.Empty;
     
     /// <inheritdoc />
     public async Task<IReadOnlyList<IRetrievalContext>> RetrieveDataAsync(IContent lastPrompt, ChatThread thread, CancellationToken token = default)